joesuffP

I mean the difference between winning these 3rd period blown games and OT is very small but being what we are to elite is going to take a lot of work. Adding size and strength being a big part

Goals are just so hard to come by for this team (unless we're plying the coyotes) Sabres looked like a defensive juggernaut against us and that's one of the worst defensive teams in the league. We just can't battle for rebounds or second chances. When we were firing on all cylinders (for about 4 games) everyone was working hard. Now you watch the TSN line and if Sheahan isn't digging the puck out doing all the work then it's 1 and done everytime. That kind of effort just isn't sustainable because we're small and weak. We need more Sheahan's to compliment them. We just throw a lineup together that's individually skilled but don't work well together

I wish more people were built mentally like Helm, Abby and... A long time ago, Cleary. If things aren't going well offensively they go out and create energy by making a hit Maybe the organization feels Jurco's offensive game doesn't exactly translate to top six NHL producer so their making him learn the defensive bottom six role? He just doesn't move his feet out there it's crazy how passive he is for somebody in his situation

Offense is just bad. Tatar had a bunch of great chances but he's not quite the 40 goal scorer we need. It's hard for an offense to be consistent when the defense can't execute a point shot. That's like half of every great teams offense, comes from the point. We we're at our best when the D was getting a lot of shots and they're not doing that anymore

When we're playing well the wings can play with any team in the league (like most teams nowadays) but we just don't have the firepower to be a serious contender. Dats and Z look like 40 pint guys at this point of their careers... Ah well. Thought this would be the year we made big strides but the talent just isn't there When a teams game plan is to not let us fly through the neutral zone we can't play with any speed. We can't dictate play. We take what they allow us. Could have lost the last 4 in regulation I consider ourselves very lucky to be where we're at

When Helm is your best player for 5 straight games you know it's just a matter of time before you start losing

Absolutely deserved that. We've been picking up points in games we shouldn't be. Could've been down a lot more if we weren't playing one of the worst teams in the league

Jurco plays with no energy. Just seems very uninspired for somebody that wants to stay in the lineup. Looks like he'll be back in the press box soon enough and sadly, it's the right move.

O'Reilley is by far the best player on the ice

Richards has yet to win a puck battle as a Red Wing. Team looks terrible

Yeah I think the wings, more so than any other team, are big advocates of bringing back the white sweaters as home colors.

Howard knew that he was scoring on that breakaway. What kind of save attempt is that on a breakaway all he had to do was shoot it right in the middle of the net. That's what it looks like when you psyche yourself out

If we could unload some dmen and somehow pick up a decent offensive dman we would be insanely deep on D. Green-Kronwall Dekeseyer-Quincey Ericsson-Wideman That's a group that can get it done in the playoffs even if they don't have that true #1 70 point defensmen. Another option would be to go and get a legit top six scorer and move Helm to the bottom six energy role, which he excels at imp, one of the very best in the league. We could make significant upgrades from these rentals at the deadline and be a serious contender

I'm starting to come around to Blshill's line strategies. If we could get the second line to play with some consistency we have three lines that could potentially carry the scoring for stretches of games when others go cold... 4 guys with 10 goals already

It was a real bet though... At least I thought it was

So who was it here that made me the bet for $50 that Abdelkader wouldn't score 15 this year?

Montreal is all grit. They won't hit you out of the building but they are very strong along the boards and at winning puck battles. They want to play a sloppy game and that's what we got

Well that was ugly, can't believed they pulled that one off. We are more skilled than Montreal but they just outwork us and win battles. Very frustrating

A lot of time these huge, skilled guys take a while to be more assertive. You really have to drill it into their heads that they have this huge advantage that they haven't had to utilize in the minor league. Some players figure it out and some don't sadly. A guy like Blake Wheeler is just in the last couple years putting it all together and using his size and being assertive, a lot of people weren't happy with his play style when he came into the league. Learning the hard way will benefit him just got to keep driving it into his brain I think the Q is a bad league to adjust from. Unless you're a super star in the making theirs going to be a big adjustment period

Q skating... Due back end of January. We'll be a lot deeper on the back end. I always though Smith and E would make a very good pairing Kronwall-Green Quincey-Deke Ericsson-Smith

Cannot keep being embarrassed by a division rival... Big character win tonight, third line goes off

Washington clearly has a better roster than us. Our forwards can much up against them pretty evenly but their defense is miles ahead of us. Their tough with size and a lot of skill. They might not score as much as Nashville but I think they have an elite blue line in the NHL, along with Rangers, Blues and Preds

Dats line needs more speed. Helm is a very fast skater but he's not as quick a stop and go skater as Nyquist or Larkin. He's great to hit with the outlet but not as effective jumping on loose pucks or beating defenders. This team is one high end winger from being one of the better teams in the league. We don't have a back end like the Caps or Predators but our forwards are close to being one of deepest groups in the NHL

Caps were getting odd man rushes at will last night. Idk if it's because they are really good or our guys were overzealous trying to jump into the play. We we're able to contain them once they tried to cycle but they we're flying up ice with ease. Complete opposite for us. Once we established control offensively we gave them a lot of trouble but coming up ice was a struggle and our fire check wasn't great

Anybody else think that Dekeseyer has been really bad? The play where Ovechkin blew by him was an easy break up but he was just so timid, then Green had to cover for him and take a penalty which resulted in the game tieing goal. I think him and kronwall have been our worst defensemen for the majority of the year which is not good since Holland will be handing DD a huge contract. People complain about E being weak, I just don't get. I hope DD could be half as physical as E and I really hope he concentrates on filling out his awkward Bambi like body